I was at Wal-Mart yesterday, and they had the last Ozark TrailDeluxe LED Lantern in the store on clearance for $5.
If it gets anywhere near the claimed runtimes, it’s probably worth it as is (21 hours at 500 lumens, 720 hours at 30 lumens).
But, at $7 for 4 Duracell D’s, I think I would prefer some changes.
Here’s a photo or 2, just to prove it happened:
What I’m wondering is this: is it feasible to add the ability to run off of lithium rechargeables (my yeti 400, and an external bank (not at the same time)), but keeping the ability to run off D cells.
I’m thinking a cylindrical dc connector inside the battery compartment that I could plug 6V into. The D cells are 4 in series.
My question is, what’s an easy way to get 6V? Most usb power banks are 5V (right?). My Yeti has USB and 12V DC. If I bought or built a 12V 18650 powerbank, I would only need one 12v-6v DC converter, butI’mnotsureexactlywhat would be good for that.
It might be easier to just get some NiMh D cells, but that’s not cheap, either and only useful for this lantern. So, meh.
I do see some 12 V power banks on aliexpress and amazon.
Based on the runtimes and wikipedia’s numbers on D cells, I’m guessing a 3A dc converter would be more than sufficient, but my electronics knowledge is atrophied.
My other concern is that if one of my kids plugs in the lantern with alkalines in it, I don’t want it catch on fire trying to charge them. So either a circuit(would a diode do?) to prevent that, or physical placement of the connector so it’s impossible to use with the batteries in. Am I being paranoid?
Those of you that are better at this than me, what you would you do? Or what do you suggest?